


Nights in the woods

by fantasywalking



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura - Freeform, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Arranged Marriage, Enemies to Lovers, Krolia, M/M, Matt Holt - Freeform, Omega Verse, Omega!Keith, POV Shiro (Voltron), Rated M for language, Vampire!Shiro, Vampires, Werewolf!Keith, Werewolves, fastburn, lance - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:55:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26621020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantasywalking/pseuds/fantasywalking
Summary: To ensure the peace of their people, the heirs of the vampire clan and werewolf pack must marry.Both parties were less than ecstatic about this turn of events.But maybe that changes once they get to know each other..?
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 152
Collections: Sheith Prompt Party 2020





	Nights in the woods

**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry for the Sheith Prompt Party 2020!  
> I had the pleasure to work with a werewolf/vampire prompt which I loooooove!  
> I hope you enjoy this piece <3 
> 
> (there is a picture at the end from the immensely talented artist I collaborated with!)

Shiro waited on a meadow, a small spot of neutral territory. He would’ve chosen another place but he had little say in this. His black cape blew in the wind that distorted his pulled-back hair. It was silly but he wore his best clothes. Fitting for the occasion.   
He wondered what the other looked like. Of course, Shiro knew the general silhouette. How could he not? In terms of clothing though, Shiro would be lucky if he wore a shirt.  
The moon moved fast over the night sky. First meeting and already late - of course, what else should he have expected from a mutt. They haven’t even met yet and it was already up to a bad start. No surprise here either. A vampire and a werewolf couldn’t get along easily. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need this.  
Was it really necessary? Would it even help to keep the peace? 

A faint rustle in the leaves let Shiro turn around. “You’re late, mutt.”

“Hey, hey, is that how you greet your beloved fiance.”

“You're not loved, so it’s easy.”

“Ouch, you hurt my poor heart, how can you be so cruel? Oh right, you’re dead.” A young man appeared between the trees. His clothes were ripped but he did indeed wear a shirt, without any sleeves but that was already more than Shiro had dared to hope for.

Shiro rolled his eyes. “You could’ve at least had the manners to show up on time.”

“Relax bloodsucker, do you have anywhere else to be?” 

Shiro did not, even though he would’ve wanted to. The contract bound him here and he was determined to pull this off. Shiro sighed and bowed down, his arm moving around his chest, the other holding up his cape. “I’m Takashi Shirogane, crown prince of the—“

“Jezz, I know who you are, drop this formality shit.”

“First you’re late, then you scold me for manners that you obviously don’t have in the slightest. Don’t they teach you at least the bare minimum, Keith?” Shiro got up straight again and shook his head. 

“I’m sure as heck not gonna be nice to a bloodsucker,” Keith gave back.

“You do know we’re stuck with each other now, right? Did they teach you what marriage means? Can you even read?”

A deep growl went through the forest and even in the faint light, Shiro could see the row of sharp teeth that Keith was baring at him. 

“Talking about manners and then talking shit.”

“This will be fun,” Shiro sighed and crossed his arms.

“Well, it doesn’t need to. We can run.”

“Why should I run with you? That’s literally the last thing I’d want.”

“Not together you undead scum,” Keith rolled his eyes. “You run in one direction, I in the other and we never see each other ever again.”

“And with that let loose a new thousand years of war, that kills both of our tribes. Sure, sounds awesome. I’m not going to let that happen because of the lack of good manners,” Shiro raised an eyebrow. “I thought wolves were so deeply connected to their family.”

Keith’s eyes glinted yellow in the darkness as he scanned Shiro. Being a direct enemy to werewolves, Shiro’s instinct yelled at him to do something against this but he managed to keep his calm posture. 

“We are. Our tribe is the most important. But I know you guys don’t have deep family bonds.”

“A test? To see if I am committed?”

The wolf grinned and shrugged.

“Rest assured that I do have friends that I wish no harm to - besides honor to my race. I may not have chosen this myself but I stand to my word.”

Keith accessed him once more before he nodded. “Good.”

“Shall we then?” Shiro asked and gracefully moved his arm into the direction he had come from.

The wolf made a face. “Don’t have much of a choice.”

Truth be told, they did not. It was part of the agreement and running wasn’t an option for either of them.   
  


The city of vampires rose tall in front of them. The darkness illuminated by lights on the streets and from various windows. From down here, you couldn’t even see the ceiling of the cavern. Hidden from human eyes as well as the burning sun, this city was as old as time. Shiro belonged to the oldest family and even he wasn’t present when it was built. Every stone told a story of its own.

“I hate caves,” Keith muttered next to him.

“Scared of the dark, wolf?” Shiro teased with a grin on his lips. “I thought you’d appreciate it. Don’t wolves live in caves?”

“Some do but you know, they’re not lit like a Christmas tree and don’t smell like death,” Keith bit back. “Besides, I really like the sun. You know, the burning ball that lets your skin sizzle so nicely. You should take a look at it.”

“You’d miss me.”

The strangled sound that left Keith’s throat made Shiro smirk. Against his better judgment did Shiro enjoy this teasing between them. Granted, at that moment it was more truth than friendly bantering. Didn’t make it less fun, however.

They entered through the tall archway with guards left and right. Their stern look forward made it seem like they didn’t care but Shiro saw the tight grip around their sword handles. Nobody liked a werewolf in their city but it was the cost for peace. Keith bared his teeth but he didn’t do anything else either, which let Shiro relax slightly. 

“You really have electricity down here?”

Shiro frowned at that question. “Of course,” he said and turned around to look at Keith. “Did you think we would live like savages with no electricity or any kind of comfort from the 21st century?”

The way Keith averted his eyes and pouted said everything. 

“You’re cute for a wolf,” Shiro chuckled and continued to walk into the city.

“I’ll rip your head off if you say that again.”

Instead of responding to that, Shiro just smirked and moved on. It would never end if they continue like that. It was fun, sure, but nothing he wanted to keep up forever. Besides, he didn’t want needless fighting. It was the reason for this whole ordeal in the first place.

“Ah, Shiro, I see you brought your social experiment with you,” Allura said as she approached together with another friend of his. They all bowed down, the usual greeting between vampires. 

“A pet suits you,” Matt laughed.

“I’m not a pet you fucking bloodsucker,” Keith growled back and at this rate, Shiro soon would be used to this sound. In the back of his head, Shiro started to wonder what Keith would sound like when he was happy. A hearty laugh with a smile on his lips…?  
The thought must have pulled Shiro deep into his mind because when he came to be again, Keith had Allura by the collar.

“Say that again undead scum and I’ll tear your head off!”

Shiro sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He didn’t hear what Allura had said but knowing her troubled past with wolves, it couldn’t have been good. Still, he couldn’t blame her. Besides the war that went on for centuries, Allura had her very own history with werewolves. 

“I want to see you trying,” Allura gave back in a whisper, showing off her fangs.

“Please don’t break him, Allura. I still need him,” Shiro intervened with a tired voice and yet a smirk on his lips. He had to admit liking how feisty Keith was. It was a natural werewolf trait to be hot-headed but something on Keith specifically made Shiro actually enjoy this. “And I’m looking forward to some centuries of peace and prosperity instead of endless wars, are you not?”

Allura huffed and rolled her eyes but relaxed her muscles again. Keith took longer to do the same and let go of her. Purple eyes pierced into Shiro’s as Keith moved back next to him. 

“Shiro’s right, my apologies,” Matt said and held out his hand that Keith refused to take. At least he didn’t bite into it. Matt waited, then shrugged but didn’t say anything when Shiro gave him a look.

“We’ll miss you here, Shiro,” Matt threw in, which made Shiro laugh.

“I haven’t even been gone for a whole night.”

“I know, but it’s already weird without you here.”

“He’s been annoying me the whole night,” Allura said with a pronounced roll of her eyes, but she smirked as Matt poked his elbow into her side. 

“I won’t be gone forever anyway - not like we plan on going anywhere,” Shiro promised. “We’ll come to visit.”

“Try to teach him some manners by then,” Allura said. “At least he’s wearing something resembling a shirt.”

Keith's deep growl was interrupted promptly when Shiro laid a hand on his shoulder. For a second he looked up to Shiro who shook his head before Keith bared his teeth and pushed the hand off.

“We’ll be going then, I wish you a dark night,” Shiro said.

“Don’t you dare to touch me again.” Keith murmured once they went on in their way.

“My apologies, but we would never go on if you’d say something again. I acted in both of our interests. I doubt you intend on staying longer here than you’d have to, correct?”

Keith didn’t say anything to this which Shiro took as a yes.

“I also apologize for the behavior of my friends. Matt tries to be funny and means no harm and Allura…” Shiro sighed and looked at his artificial hand. “Has a history with werewolves. She’s not too keen on the new peace treaty but in the end, we all want this war to stop.”

  
  


Shortly after, they arrived at the palace. The architecture was from a long-forgotten era but it had been resorted and built on over the years so now it looked like a mix-match of different epochs. It was what Shiro called home. He lived there ever since he remembered. 

An elderly vampire stepped in front of them. “Lord Shirogane, my apologies for disturbing you but your dinner is waiting,” he said, bowing deeply. 

“Ah, already? Yes, thank you, I’ll be there shortly,” Shiro said and dismissed the butler with a waving hand. “Please excuse me, it won’t take long. You can wait here, as I figure you don’t want to accompany me.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, then shuddered as if something was running down his spine and walked away to sit on a nearby bench. No comment but also no insults. That was the beginning at the very least. Small steps in the right direction.

  
  


As promised, Shiro came back after mere minutes. “Sorry to have kept you waiting, we can continue.”

There was a change in the way Keith looked at Shiro. Before he went to dinner he thought that the fiery hatred in those purple eyes had lost intensity but now it was burning as bright as before. And there was something else.

Disgust.

“If you want this to work, don’t ever think it’s okay to ‘drink’ in front of me. I _will_ break the contract then,” Keith spat out and the disgust was like acid that prickled on Shiro’s skin. “I want to leave,” he added in a murmur.

Shiro studied Keith for a moment. All his muscles were tensed, ready to fight or run but at the same time, he seemed folded into himself. Not the proud, loud talking wolf anymore but someone that felt deeply uncomfortable; with his arms in front of the chest and avoiding eye contact.

“Okay, let's leave then.” There was a lot that Shiro hadn’t shown him but it wouldn’t make sense now and it won’t run away anyway. 

  
  


“This is very hypocritical of you,” Shiro said on their way to the surface again.

“What? That I don’t want to see how you kill an innocent life by drugging them and then sucking their literal life out of them?? Oh yeah sure tell me how I’m wrong here.”

“What’s the difference between us drinking from humans because we need to survive and you going feral because of a celestial body being slightly brighter once a month?”

Keith blinked and stopped in his tracks. They had made it out of the cavern just now, mist covered the forest ground and the first sun streams made their way through the trees. He looked up to the moon that was still a faint picture in the morning sky.

Shiro thought he would reply but Keith just started to walk again after a while.

There was a cabin quite literally in the woods. It had been made for them, exactly on the middle ground of their territories. It was neither big nor small, enough for two people - with enough rooms to avoid each other as well. Nobody had any hopes that this marriage would become one of love. It would be a first and inappropriate on top of all. 

It had a kitchen that surprised Shiro for a moment before he realized that his companion - no, his _fiance_ \- indeed needed food. 

“Guess this is home now,” Shiro sighed and sat down on the couch. He scanned the nearby library for books that they had given them. This whole situation was still odd to Shiro but he was glad that they had tried to make it as comfortable as possible for them. Nothing less than the peace of their races depended on him and Keith not killing each other. 

“It’s different,” Keith suddenly muttered, still standing in the living room and pulling Shiro out of his thoughts. “It’s not like we have a choice to transform. It’s a curse, laid onto us centuries ago. We used to be simple shapeshifters, connected to nature and the spirits around us. Now we’re…” he trailed off, looking outside and grabbing his own arm, nails digging into the skin.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s hard,” Shiro said softly, which prompted Keith to look at him. “Vampirism isn’t a choice either. Someone comes around, fights you, bites you, and transforms you into...a being that relies on the blood of others. None of us choose this life but we try to make the best out of it. The humans we feed on have their own homes in our city, they live a somewhat normal life. Some even have families. A lot of them seek the biting because of the toxin that makes them high. This doesn’t apologize for our doing and I won’t deny the death a lot of us still bring to this day. It’s not a crime to kill a human, but there are just as many that try to reduce the bloodshed…well...the death of humans at least.”

Keith kept quiet for a moment, his eyes searching Shiro’s face for something. If he found what he was looking for or not, he sighed and relaxed enough to sit down next to Shiro. “Maybe it’s not so different after all…” he whispered. 

Shiro smiled and nodded. In the end, maybe their races had more in common than visible at first glance. 

“You should sleep soon. Must be hard to fight your circadian rhythm like that, my apologizes.”

Keith next to him shrugged. “It’s okay. A small price, I guess,” he said and yawned. The windows in the cabin were all darkened so Shiro could run around without the fear to be exposed to sunlight but he was sure that the sun was fully out by now, meaning Keith stayed awake the whole night to meet him. 

Shiro followed Keith into the bedroom, without even truly realizing it. 

“...you want to watch me sleep like a creep?” Keith asked and wrinkled his nose. 

“Huh, no of course not,” Shiro chuckled and would have blushed if he could. Instead, he tried to turn it around. “Unless you want me to.”

“Fuck off,” Keith gave back but Shiro could swear to have seen a smirk on those lips.

“Sleep tight then,” Shiro said and was about to leave the room.

“Hey, Shiro?”

“Mh?”

“...do you remember anything from being human?”

Silence laid heavy between them, Shiro standing in the doorframe like a statue. “Sleep,” he breathed out then and closed the door behind him.

This was a talk they won’t have. At least not yet…

“Good morning, Prince Keith - or rather evening,” Shiro said and put away the book he had read when the bedroom door opened.

“Can you stop this aristocratic bullshit for just one day?”

“No. You could say it’s in my blood.”

“I hate you so much.”

Shiro laughed and nodded to the cup of coffee on the couch table. “It’s been quite a while since I made coffee but that machine your people bought did everything on its own so I figure it’s good.”

Slowly sitting down next to him, Keith just grumbled and nodded, which probably was as much of thanks as Shiro would get. 

Instead of taking the coffee right away though, Keith yawned loudly and closed his eyes again. Fearing the other would fall asleep right there and then again, Shiro grabbed the cup and held it up in front of Keith’s nose. Keith inhaled and sniffed the cup, but still was not taking it. Instead, he leaned closer to Shiro’s wrist, moving his face along his arm until he was at Shiro’s neck. The cold nose was pressed against Shiro’s skin, even moving up to his hairline.

“Uh...Keith..?” Shiro whispered perplexed but not moving an inch. Naturally a curious person, Shiro wanted to get to know Keith and his race but this was strange even for him. 

Keith slowly lifted his head again, exhaling with a smile on his lips before he opened his eyes, looking right into Shiro’s that were still mere centimeters apart. It was an oddly calm and relaxed look. It only lasted seconds, however, until Keith suddenly blinked and jumped up from the couch.

“What the…!” Keith spat out, blaring his teeth.

Shiro frowned and held up his hands. “I didn’t do anything. You went all weird all of the sudden. What was that?”

Keith huffed and turned away his head, but Shiro could still see the dark color on his cheeks. Without another word, Keith left for the kitchen and rummaged in there, potentially making himself food, and then went outside. 

After half an hour, Keith came back inside but avoided Shiro’s direct eye contact. “We should get going.”

“Will we even see anybody?” Shiro asked as they wandered the darkening forest. It was not so much of a problem for Keith to stay up during the night - but Shiro couldn’t do the same for the day for obvious reasons. The forest was dense enough for them to travel in twilight but it would be late evening until they would arrive at the wolf village. 

“We don’t sleep the moment the sun sets,” Keith rolled his eyes. “Besides, we have guards at night anyway. And my family will be there of course.”

Shiro nodded. It made sense. He remembered Krolia, the chief of the tribe, from previous conferences between their races. And from the battlefield. He was curious about how this meeting would go. Keith was supposed to meet the king and queen of the vampires yesterday but Shiro didn’t want to push Keith too much after he had voiced his discomfort. Meeting the monarchs that were arrogant at best and blood-hungry at worst, might have jeopardized this whole trip at that point. 

“Why didn’t you protect her?” Keith asked into the silence.

“Whom?”

“That vampire woman, Allura. She’s supposed to be your friend, right? Why not protect her then?”

Shiro tilted his head and furrowed his brows. “When should I have?”

Keith stopped in his tracks and turned around to eye Shiro. “When I was about to rip off her throat.”

“Oh, that,” Shiro said and shrugged. “I knew she was capable of handling it.”

"But she was in danger - or are you saying I’m not strong enough?” There was an underlying growl in Keith's voice towards the end.

“No, of course not. But she is stronger than you might think. It wasn’t necessary to protect her and it would’ve offended her honor,” Shiro explained. 

“Honor doesn’t help you when you’re dead,” Keith concluded and moved on.

There was truth behind those words that got Shiro thinking. He considered Allura and Matt his best friends but he never thought about jumping between them and someone else in a situation like this.

The forest grew thicker and thicker and by now Shiro had no idea anymore where they had walked to. It was remarkable how Keith seemed to have no trouble at all finding the way between the trees. 

A stone wall appeared in front of them, soaring into the sky. Torches illuminated the guards that stood on top of it, men and women with the same fluffy ears as Keith’s. They came to a hold before a tall wooden gate. Keith let out a high pitched whistle and the door opened. 

The village was buzzing with people and bigger than Shiro had thought. Houses built out of both stone and wood-lined the curbstone street. Trees grew left and right, some had bridges between them and small houses in their large branches. It looked like the city wasn’t planned out but rather built out of necessity without real structure. For someone that lived in a very organized and strict city, this felt odd and even uncomfortable. Vampires weren’t fond of changes.   
When the people realized who was coming they all had the same reaction. A smile for Keith, but piercing eyes for Shiro. It must’ve been the same for Keith when they were in the vampire city. It made Shiro’s hair stand on end but he attempted to keep a good posture, head held high. Which, in retrospect, must’ve looked arrogant in their eyes.   
In the middle of the village was some kind of marketplace, a round opening with a fire in the middle.

“Do _you_ have electricity?” Shiro asked and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s hard to come by without destroying the environment but yes we do have some but we use it sparsely,” Keith explained and turned with a wicked grin. “We also like fire, because things burn nicely. You know, wood, meat, the undead.”

Shiro shook his head and rolled his eyes. This teasing would never stop but it grew on Shiro.

“Ah Keith, there you are,” a female voice said. She stood tall next to the fire, surrounded by other werewolves. Her ears had the same colors as Keith’s and it was not hard to guess who she was. Krolia was a person that radiated with power and respect. 

Keith went up to her and mother and son hugged tightly. When both dug their nose into each other's neck and hair, it was oddly reminiscent of what had happened in the morning. This ritual was redone with two more people that Keith seemed to be close with. Were they scenting each other?

Shiro wrinkled his nose at that which was enough to divert attention towards him. 

“Prince Shirogane,” Krolia said and eyed him.

“Chief Marmora,” Shiro bowed deeply even though this custom seemed lost at these people. He would still show his respect towards the person in charge.

“I’m glad you could come. This peace treaty is an important one,” she said with a smile. “I hope my son behaved.”

Shiro shot Keith a glance and smirked but he nodded then. “We may have differences but he did indeed behave. I am grateful to be invited to your city as one of the first vampires.”

“You're welcome. I hope you learn from him about our culture. But before you leave let me remind you,” she said and stepped closer to Shiro. “If you even so much as lay a finger on him, we will all come after you and rib off your head.”

Shiro suddenly knew where Keith had gotten his temperament from. 

“Be advised that I do not plan on doing so - but if you threaten me, you threaten the Empire and we will destroy you,” Shiro gave back.

Keith appeared behind his mother, snarling at Shiro. “Don’t fucking threaten my mother or I’ll have your head.”

Everybody around them was growling as well and even Shiro had to admit that he would be out of his league. It was a strong reaction, though. If he would’ve reacted this way every time Keith threatened his friends, this peace would’ve been done for.

_“Why didn’t you protect her?”_

Was this what Keith had meant? It seemed strange to Shiro but it made sense in the way Keith acted. Wolves had a deep familial bond and while Shiro called the other vampires his friends, he wouldn’t go this far for them. 

Krolia held up a hand and everybody quieted down. “Let’s not endanger our newly formed contract. You two should be on your way anyway.”

Rather reluctantly did Keith say goodbye to his family and they continued their walk through the village.

“You do have a strong sense of protection,” Shiro figured.

“We’re one family, if you hurt one of us, we will hurt you,” Keith said and shrugged. “That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

“Yo, mullet!” A man approached them from the side, waving at Keith.

“God, why...” Keith growled quietly and turned around.

“Damn, you really have a garlic pussy with you,” the wolf said upon arriving. Shiro raised an eyebrow. That was not the kind of insult he had anticipated. 

“What do you want, Lance?”, Keith crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Just wanted to check up with you, see if the rumors are true.”

“...you were at the ceremony two days ago,” Keith sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Man, why so pissed? You’re going into heat soon or what?”

Keith suddenly turned glowing red, punched Lance. “Fuck off!” He growled and then took Shiro by the arm to drag him away.

This whole encounter had been something else. It wouldn’t have surprised Shiro to be threatened and insulted more but those two seemed more interested in bickering at each other than the former enemy between them. It was almost fun to look at. What was a ‘heat’ though? Something wolf-related obviously as Shiro never heard about it before. Maybe a condition? Like a fever that humans could get? In the end, werewolves were still very humanoid.

“...so, you don’t love everybody in your family,” Shiro snickered once they were out of Lance’s listening range. 

“Oh don’t misunderstand. I can’t stand Lance - but I will kill you if you’d hurt him,” Keith said matter of factly.

“That’s interesting.”

“You won’t get it. You don’t have a family.”

From all the things that Keith had thrown at his head, this one stuck the most. It was true, biologically speaking but also metaphorically. Shiro didn’t view his friends as family and he was long enough a vampire to have forgotten the real meaning behind a family. It struck him how much he must’ve changed over the centuries. 

“But I can still try to understand it. I want to learn from you, Keith. Sincerely. We didn’t have a good start and I won’t become a wolf lover in an instant but I’m serious,” Shiro said and stopped walking.

Keith did the same, looking at him with curious eyes. Then he sighed. “I want this to work as well. It doesn’t help if we hate each other for the rest of our lives.”

There were sudden, high pitched screams when a horde of kids ran up to Keith and clung to him. 

“Keith is back, Keith is back!”

“Keith, Keith, Keith, look! My fangs are growing!”

“No, look how tall I got!”

Even with heightened senses, it was hard to understand what they were saying and yelling at Keith. Everybody wanted his attention at the same time - and Keith tried his best to do everybody justice.   
Shiro had stepped away, not only because his ears started ringing by the noise but also to give them space. Kids most likely won’t enjoy a vampire in their midst. But at that moment they were all preoccupied with Keith to not give Shiro much thought. He wasn’t even sure if they had noticed him.   
It was cute, watching Keith bend down and grabbing some of the kids, holding them up and laughing with them. It was a different side of him. One Shiro enjoyed a lot and that carved the need to make Keith happy more often. Like Shiro had imagined, a smile fit perfectly on Keith’s face. 

Something happened that Shiro did not anticipate at all, though.

A tail.

There was a big, fluffy tail coming out of Keith’s pants. It had the same purple as the rest of his fur. And it was wagging like crazy. 

Shiro couldn’t help himself but snicker quietly at this. How could he never have known that werewolves had tails in human form? It definitely wasn’t there before, that was for sure. So did it only appear because Keith was happy?

Sadly the relaxed atmosphere stopped soon after when the children realized Shiro’s presence after all. Again, Keith handled them perfectly and to Shiro’s surprise, he didn’t call Shiro names. 

“I gotta go now,” Keith said and a whining chorus broke loose. “I’ll come to visit a lot, promise. I won’t be away too long, okay?”

“Will you bring him?” A small one asked its voice shaking.

Keith looked at Shiro and then back at the kid. “Maybe, if he behaves and wants to. Do you want me to bring him with me?”

“...not sure...vamps are bad - and they stink!”

Keith laughed and brushed through the hair of the child. “Some do, yes. And you should never trust them easily,” he explained but then Shiro must’ve been tricked by the light because he thought he saw Keith smiling at him. “But some might be good after all.”

A trick of the light or not, Shiro smiled back and nodded faintly. 

It seemed like a new beginning for them, a more open one that would give them a chance to grow onto each other, without prejudices clouding their minds fully. It won’t be easy but they could make it work, one step at a time.

  
  


“I learned a lot today,” Shiro said once they were back in the cabin. “Thank you for showing me around your village.”

“Eh, it’s in the contract,” Keith shrugged. “No biggie.”

“It is, but I can still show my gratitude. This village and its inhabitants mean a lot to you and while you were protective at times, you let me run around without growling at me every second.”

Keith huffed once more and avoided Shiro’s eyes. “I guess. You’re welcome.”

“May I ask what a ‘heat’ is?”

“I’ll just kill Lance myself…” Keith groaned out and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “It’s…” Keith stopped again and pouted. 

“Is it that bad?” Shiro chuckled. “You don’t need to tell me if you do not so desire.”

“Wolves have a different uh system for reproduction. We have Alphas, Betas, and Omegas that...carry out different uh...tasks you could say. A heat is once a month and...,” Keith was looking everywhere but Shiro and his fingers picked on his skin. “It’s complicated, is that enough for now?”

“Sure, thank you for opening up. Please don’t feel pressured but if there is something I can do during this heat, tell me. I’d try to help if I can.”

Keith laughed nervously at that. “Well…”

It was cute how different Keith looked yet again. Neither feisty nor happy but rather shy and insecure. Shiro felt the sudden urge to explore all kinds of different expressions on Keith’s face. More than anything, however, did he want to see him happy.   
Within two days, Keith truly had grown onto him. It felt nice being around him. Without thinking, Shiro lifted his hand to brush away a dark strand on Keith’s face. Instead of growling, Keith just looked at him with big eyes.

“You know what I learned today as well? There’s a saying - dogs that bark don’t bite. I think this fits perfectly with you.”

Keith grabbed Shiro’s shirt and growled now after all. “Listen you bloodsucker, I can very much bite!”

Shiro chuckled and just leaned in closer. “Oh, I like biting, in case you didn’t know,” he whispered in a dark voice.

“I’ll bite you if you come closer..!” Keith murmured, but without backing away.

“I’ll bite back then,” Shiro promised and risked everything by sealing their lips. 

He did not get bitten. On the contrary, Keith relaxed and kissed back. Shiro put his arms around the slender waist of the other and pulled him closer. Their tongues meet, fighting for dominance. They pulled apart slowly, Keith’s breath tingling on Shiro’s skin.

“Is that why you smelled me up so much when you woke? Because you secretly like me?”

Keith blushed and pushed Shiro away. “It’s called scenting, okay?! You were so close and I mistook you for the nice cup of coffee”

“Ah yes, let's go with that excuse,” Shiro chuckled. "Will you grow a tail now every time you see me?"

“I fucking hate you,” Keith gnarled back and pulled Shiro close again, kissing him deeply.

**Author's Note:**

> https://s12.directupload.net/images/200923/vy8anc7l.png  
> 
> 
> Thanks again to [ Rigris](https://twitter.com/goatluminati) for working together with me on this piece! Please check them out!  
> This seriously is a fast-burn lol! But I had fun writing it and I'm considering expanding the universe (and maybe add an explicit extra chapter? >D)  
> I'm more than happy for every kind of comment (long, short, just keysmash, hearts, anything really) and kudos!  
> I have a [Twitter](https://twitter.com/fantasywalking), feel free to come and scream with me about Sheith <3


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